Speed Cleaning Giveaway
I spied a tweet the other day that piqued my interest:
@karen_ehman, attended your “Keeping your Ducks in a Relative Row” workshop and decided to make a few cleaning aprons.
In attempting to live my priorities, and encourage others to do the same, I have adopted into my routine Speed Cleaning. (Okay, not so much lately as I’ve been busy trying to finish up my latest book project. Currently, well, let’s just say I am thanking the Lord that I have a man who doesn’t mind dishpan hands! ;-))
Speed Cleaning is a concept my friend Suzy introduced me to almost 20 years ago. It is based on the book by the same name and created by a man named Jeff Campbell.
Visit his site. His products are fabulous and worth every penny.
When I teach speed cleaning, I also show how to use a apron crafted to hold your supplies so you have everything right within reach and do not have to walk the perimeter of your home several times. (You know….go around and dust everything. Then take the window cleaner all around getting rid of the cute little finger prints. Next, take the all-purpose cleaner and clean the counters and sinks….etc… You get the time-wasting picture, right?)
Well, my new cyber friend Sheri, who heard me speak a few weeks ago at the Hearts at Home conference on the campus of Focus on the Family, has made some absolutely adorable cleaning aprons and has them for sale on Etsy.com. She is kind enough to give away one to a commenter today.
Here’s a bit about Sheri:
I am a military wife and homeschooling mom of 4. I fell in love with aprons about 14 years ago as a new Christian and new mom, listening to Elisabeth Elliot speak on Susanna Wesley covering her head with her apron to pray.
I just love the message wearing aprons conveys of home, love, comfort, etc. It’s like a homemaker’s uniform.
I love sewing any apron, I had made a similar design as a “cash” apron, and after hearing Karen’s Workshop on “Keeping Your Ducks in a Relative Row” I decided I needed my own cleaning apron, and since I recently started placing items in my etsy shop, I made some extras.
I will take custom orders and currently have free shipping with code SHIPFREE at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SheriMomto4
I love it. I love that she is using her passion to help others (like me, who can’t sew a straight seam) and earn some money at home for her family.
And, oh do I have a special place in my heart for military moms! Please check out her Esty site.
Okay girlfriends, leave us a comment today sharing your biggest cleaning headache.
Do you wrestle with your dirty floors?
Have an aversion to washing windows?
Can’t stand to keep up on keeping the fridge rid of rotten items that resemble a science project gone bad?
What is your greatest cleaning challenge?
You just may win a free apron.
Happy cobweb busting!
since I moved to tx, my biggest challenge has been up…everything over arm level. The ceiling are so high here. I am pretty sure once your lightbulbs burn out you just need to sell and start over…Holly (typing in the dark and looking for a realtor…)
Love these aprons…always wear an apron in the kitchen…never thought about cleaning in one…..would love to win a new pretty apron…
Great apron & awesome idea for carrying around cleaning supplies.
Not dusting seems to be the thing never gets done–somehow those dust bunnies grow & multiply into dust elephants! We are moving this weekend, so, it would be great to start out in our new place with a new cleaning apron.
Jodie
My biggest cleaning is everywhere! We have 4 kids and live in a single wide mobile home at the moment. Not enough space. I don’t like cleaning the bathroom!
Clutter. Clutterclutterclutter. I try to hold tight to the “Don’t put it down, put it away” concept that I learned from you, but some old dogs {ahem} in this house is having a hard time being retrained. :)
Keeping up with the kitchen floor is my challenge. Well- who am I kidding- it’s all floors! Ha ha ha
My worst cleaning woe is keeping my refrigerator and freezer cleaned out. I hate, hate, hate to do that job. I would love to have an apron. I sort of collect them. I have some that my mother used to wear and had she lived, she would be almost 101 years old.
My biggest challenge is trying to get back to being organized and neat. Up until I started caring for my Mom about 8 years ago, I was neat, clean and on top of things. That all slowly started to change with beginning to care for my Mom. As her needs increased my time decreased but my responsibilities here at home didn’t. There was a period of time that I scheduled my life around Mom’s doctor appts……………sometimes there would be 4 in a week. That left little time for home stuff plus I worked one day a week and had 6 grandkids that I loved spending time with. Over the course of years, it became necessary to put the “I’ll take care of it when I can” plan into play. I shut my eyes to the disorganization that was happening because Mom was a priority. She has been gone almost 2 years now and I am still looking at a home that is not in order and that causes me much anxiety. I have been caring for 4 of my granddaughters several times a week because their Mom had to go to work and they are all homeschooled and all have dance classes that I have to get them to when they are here. So the “free” time that opened up with the passing of Mom was quickly filled with grand girlies. I have come to the realization that God has given me all these things for a reason……and I think it’s time to give up my ” Martha” complex without giving up the orderliness of my home. So, I have to learn how to work efficiently with the time that I have. Thanks for the good tips today and thanks for the chance at winning that cool apron.
I could REALLY use one of these aprons! I always find myself upstairs with my cleaning stuff downstairs or vice versa…. It’s a problem.
My greatest cleaning challenge is finding the time to do it. It seems that everything else in life keeps me busy and so I never have the house as clean as I (& my husband) would like it to be. It seems like it is a never ending battle to keep it clean. I am a full time college student with a 15 year old BOY at home and my 21 year old daughter and 2 year old granddaughter live in an apartment in our walkout basement and spend a fair amount of time in our home. This along with living in a very dusty region makes it near impossible. I know, I know…”I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Well, I wish He would strengthen a few others in my house. :0)
Thanks for all your pointers and encouragement Karen!!!
my master bedroom seems to be in a constant state of chaos! Keeping it clean and finding a place for everthing. We live in an older home with a not so big master closet….so it is hard to get and stay organized and clean. Love your books!!
Hmmm, tough to pick just one cleaning challenge! The basement seems to be a collecting area where things are put out of sight, out of mind. Sure wish there was a trick to keeping things from piling up! Also, papers, papers, papers! So much junk mail arrives each day and stacks up on the kitchen desk! Taking the time to file away important papers doesn’t happen often enough.
What a great apron!!! Dusting and mopping are my biggest cleaning woes. That and windows, but we wont’ even go there! :)
OH MY I really need help …thank you for giving me the opportunity to win this!!!
my biggest cleaning challenge is getting through the clutter of toys all over the floor and piles of laundry so that I can actually get to the “real” cleaning. LOL Also, we have a walkout basement, so our living room windows are too high up off the ground to wash on the outside.
My biggest challenge are the floors. My bathroom floor is always covered in hair because I lose more than most people have, my wood floors stay dusty, and my kitchen floor show signs of my dogs paws. I only have one rug that I have to vaccuum everything else is wood or tile. I would love cleaning ideas for my wood floors.
My mom ALWAYS wore an apron. When she passed away 2 years ago, each of her daughters (all 5 of us) took an apron. Just this weekend in the midst of cleaning out all my drawers, I found it-it brought back a ton of memories-smiles and tears to be honest with you. I love the pockets on these aprons!
My biggest challenge are the floors. My husband and I are taking over my son’s home. They have laminate flooring all throughout the family room and hallway and beautiful ceramic tile flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. Why are they challenging? I don’t own a mop of any kind at all. No Swiffer floor cleaners, no steam mops, nada. How do I clean them you ask? On my tush. I have a plastic tub of cleaning solution along with a brush or sponge that I keep on a towel and as I slide along, I pull my towel along with me and do the floors a little bit at a time. I could go out and buy me a cheap mop but I am saving up to get me a really nice steam cleaner and I will have it someday. In the meantime, I slide along.
Lately with an almost 5 year old, an almost 3 year old, and a very demanding 7 month old my whole house has been a mess. And I can barely see straight to even think about how I’m going to dig out of it. This week, I’ve dedicated to climbing the mountain and regaining control of my home, but wouldn’t you know it, last night the baby woke every hour and 1/2 and I’m wiped out. Maybe if I can sort through the piles of paper at the least, I will have accomplished something today?
Paper… Too much of it coming in (schoolwork, bills, newspapers, magazines, junk mail, etc…) It keeps piling up. Not sure where/how to save the bills and schoolwork. They just keep stacking up until I get frustrated, put it in a laundry basket, hide it in my closet and ‘think’ my house is clean! Ugh….. Wish I weren’t so sentimental about some things.
I love the inching along apron…it pretty much describes my journey in housekeeping. Thankful for a patient family to serve!
Cleaning has never been top on my list. I can spend the morning cleaning and by evening the fruits of cleaning are already beginning to be covered up. We have a house that continues to have foundation issues and even after spending thousands of $$$ on piers and repairs, the cracks in the walls somehow come back. I find it hard to be joyfull in the midst of a house that continues to be a money pit. Please pray for my attitude, it is not very good. We are looking at another $5,400 in piers to be put in on a very tight budget. I find it hard to continue to pray about this. I feel God is not listening. The aprons are darling, thank you for your post Karen. I need help keeping focused on the blessings not the big cracks in my walls.
oh my….i’m so overwhelmed by it all…..i need all the help i can get….i have a 22 and 18 yr old daughters …..and my house stays a wreck. it’s so depressing…and i have all good intentions and think about it and it just overwhelms me…i can’t do it all!!! no way! so it just doens’t get done. my biggest chore is the whole house!!
My biggest challenges are keeping up with the floors and also paper clutter. I could vacuum every day (though I don’t) and it wouldn’t be enough! And once I let the papers begin to pile up on my desk or counter, it seems like a losing battle. I need all the helpful suggestions I can get!
I absolutely adore aprons! After my husband and I bought our home, the first thing I got was an apron (which I wear whenever I cook). I’ve even left the house numerous times with apron on accidentally. There is just something so homey about a nice apron. My greatest cleaning challenge would have to be the basement. It is unfinished and houses my washer, dryer and tons of cobwebs. I fully clean/wash/dust the basement twice a year but it also requires constant upkeep to make it nicely usable. In fact, I’m due for another basement cleaning soon. Yuck! :)